Art · London · Monarchies · Mores
Sir John Melville was put in an awkward position by Queen Elizabeth: she asked the Scottish ambassador whether she was fairer than his queen. Melville replied that "Elizabeth is the fairest queen in England, and Mary the fairest in Scotland". Which of us dances better, then? Elizabeth pressed
Archaeology · Monarchies · Museums · Observations · Mores · New York · Humour
This couch is assembled from fragments, some of which come from the imperial villa of Lucius Verus near Rome and date to the 1st-2nd centuries AD. It is kept at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The glass inlay may not correspond to the original, but the bone panels are
Aristocracy · Monarchies · Observations · Mores
Prince Nikolay Borisovich Yusupov, favourite of Catherine II and son of a governor of Moscow and Saint Petersburg, was so rich that he could not remember all his estates, which lay in almost every province of Russia. And when he was asked whether he owned land in such-and-such
NB! · Architecture · Monarchies · Heritage · Saint Petersburg
Russia's first interior finished in artificial marble: the rooms of the Chinese Palace at Oranienbaum. Of genuine marble here there are only the fireplace surrounds. The idea of such a scheme of decoration belonged to Catherine the Great
Art · Monarchies · Museums · Saint Petersburg
The "Cabinet for Diamond Items" from the Picture House at Oranienbaum is made in the form of an intricate architectural structure with a mirrored finish. Inside the display case itself are all manner of little mirrored drawers with bronze handles, platforms, balconies and arches, which turn the space
Aristocracy · Monarchies · People
Marie of Edinburgh, granddaughter of Queen Victoria and Alexander II, the last Queen of Romania. In furs. She wrote ardent letters to George V and Nicholas II and was a genuine celebrity of her day. To this woman the Entente owed Romania's abandonment of neutrality and its entry
NB! · Art · Monarchies · Observations · Humour
Faith · Monarchies · Society · Ethnography
Soothsayers, Blessed Ones and Holy Fools were not always revered in Russia, in fact. State persecution of them began in 1636, when first the Patriarch and then Tsar Alexey Mikhailovich pondered the harm they did to simple God-fearing folk, the latter issuing decrees expelling these enigmatic wanderers from Moscow
Monarchies · Mores · Paris · Pop Culture · Saint Petersburg
In late 1782 Catherine the Great issued two "fashion" decrees at once, banning French toilettes at court. The decrees of 23 October and 6 November 1782 limited the width of skirts and the height of the ornaments on gowns, which could no longer exceed two vershoks. Despite its
Archive · The East · Books · Monarchies · Moscow
The German Olearius witnessed a visit by a Kabardian delegation to the Tsar's court in 1634. What particularly struck Olearius was that the Kabardians arrived in modest array and with no particular occasion or pretext for conversation with the Tsar's officials, yet were presented with silk
NB! · Monarchies · Museums · Nature · Humour
NB! · Art · Monarchies · Museums · Nature